The number of enquiries made for office space in major UK cities has jumped 800% since Boris Johnson revealed a roadmap to the end of lockdown restrictions in England, according to Offices.co.uk.

The government will drop its ‘stay at home’ messaging from the end of March, but will still insist that people should work from home if they can until 21 June.

Jonathan Ratcliffe, a senior broker at Offices.co.uk, said: “We are getting a lot of strong enquiries coming in for a full return to the office in the summer. The general feeling from speaking to businesses owners is that their staff will feel happy to return to offices after May.”“There is still a hesitance from bosses though,” Jonathan added. “We are seeing companies planning for September, but they are still nervous about committing to anything. For medium-sized businesses looking at offices for 30 people, these are very big decisions at the moment, and they are not being made without some deliberation.

“Tuesday, however, saw a real change in tone – businesses are changing their outlook – we look forward to seeing this confidence increase.”

Mr Ratcliffe explained that decision over the office of the future are being steered by employees rather than company directors.

“The feeling we are getting is that smaller, more flexible workspaces are the way forward – the workplace has definitely changed, but it still has its place.”

Jonathan Ratcliffe, a senior broker at Offices.co.uk

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